Pros and Cons of Morning Time
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Have you ever wondered about the pros and cons of morning time?
After all, morning time is wonderful! I have time with my kids in the early morning. At the same time,
So let’s talk about the pros and cons of morning time!
Pros and cons of Morning time: The Pros
Cover Content Subjects
Morning time is a great way to cover all those content subjects that tend to be skipped.
I don’t know about you, but in the insanity of the homeschool life, sometimes we skip history or science for a time. After all, I just ran the kids through language arts. Now I don’t have the energy to bring them back together for history or science.
It’s just too much.
But a regular morning time routine gives you that time. It gives you a time and a place for history, science, and art.
And because you’re doing it first thing in the morning, it actually does get done!
Add Forgotten Subjects to the Day
Morning time gives you a time and a place to add those forgotten subjects to your homeschool day.
In my case, I tend to avoid poetry. Memory work often drops by the wayside. And I don’t even want to mention learning Latin chants, prayers, and quotes.
So morning time gives me a time and a place to add these subjects.
And you don’t have to worry about increasing the length of time you sit down individually with each child. Instead, all you need to do is add these subjects to your group time together.
You’re not making your homeschool day insanely long.
Lovely Way to Start the Day
Morning time is an awesome way to start the day! And it’s a lovely way to make beautiful memories of studies as a family.
You sit down together. You laugh together. And you start the day together.
Can you think of a better way to start the homeschool day?
Pros and Cons of Morning Time: The Cons
Collecting the kids for morning time
One of the hardest parts of morning time is collecting the kids in the morning. The kids are involved in projects. They grabbed their math books and are in the middle of a math lesson.
You start the collect the kids and your husband suddenly needs to talk. The baby needs a diaper change. Your middle school kid just started a math test and doesn’t want to start.
Gathering all the kids for morning time is hard.
Siblings Bicker and Joke at the Table
Morning time isn’t all beauty, warm, and love. Kids bicker. They bicker in the car. They bicker in their rooms. And they bicker during morning time.
So morning time becomes a head ache instead of a lovely way to start the day.
And when the kids aren’t bickering, they’re joking. My kids seem to think they’re the next Steve Martin of comedians. They joke. They compete to see who can come up with the best pun.
And they laugh.
This means I have to fight for their attention.
Despite what you think, my kids aren’t always well-behaved during homeschool hours, quietly doing their schoolwork. Nope, they’re bickering, joking, and laughing through the day. And I spend half my time getting them to refocus and get back to work.
And morning time is one of their favorite times to practice their latest comedy routine.
Hard to Adjust for Large Age Gaps
Morning time is hard to adjust for large age gaps.
I know. I’ve done it. Last year I was homeschooling a 1st grader, a 2nd grader, a 9th grader, and a 12th grader. Do you know how hard it is to find material for a 1st and 12th grader?
Anything I found for my 1st grader, my 12th grader had covered years ago and was quietly bored silly. Especially as she had a full load of schoolwork to finish before the end of the day. I was adding busy work to her day.
And when I added work appropriate for my 12th grader, my 1st grader was quickly bored and would wander off.
Seriously, I know they talk about morning time for large age gaps, but it’s harder than you think.
The needs of a 1st and 12th graders are so different that it requires quite a bit of thought and planning to meet the needs of both children.
Kids distracted by fun
Morning time is a blast!
We complete science experiments, history projects, or artwork in the kitchen in the early morning. And then the day is disrupted by the need to clean up the kitchen before we can get back to our regular routine.
And once you get the kids riled up, it’s hard to settle them back down. It’s hard to refocus them towards math, grammar, and spelling when all they want to do is run around and play.
I like to keep my homeschool mornings moving and distracted kids don’t help.
Easier to fold morning time into regular life
You don’t have to use morning time to add fun extras into your life.
Read classical children’s literature at bedtime. I know my kids love having mom read to them for 30 minutes at night.
Head out on nature walks and fold in science and nature study into your walks. Especially if you’re organized!
Add a few moments of memory work during your sitdown times with your kids. This also gives you the ability to customize each child’s memory work towards their specific needs.
Memorize poetry in the car. These days it seems like we spend a lot of time in the car. So instead of staring blankly out the window or having the kids play on a smartphone, work on poetry memorization!
And you can also add art, music, history, and science projects to the afternoon. Use those quiet rainy afternoons to learn how to draw birds with a Chalk Dust tutorial. Play music. Put on a play. Or complete a science experiment.
Morning time has to potential of being a beautiful addition to your homeschool day.
But despite all the rhetoric, morning time has its downsides.
So as you plan this next homeschool year, think carefully about the pros and cons of morning time. Is it truly the best way to fold the extra subjects and activities into your day?
It may be easiest to skip the subjects this year. Or it may be easier to fold the activities into your daily routine.
Or it may turn out that morning time is indeed exactly what your family needs this year.
Recommended Reading
Books:
- Better Together: Strengthen Your Family, Simplify Your Homeschool, and Savor the Subjects that Matter Most
- The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids
- Circle Time: Plan the Best Part of Your Day
Links